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Technology Stocks : CellularVision (CVUS): 2-way LMDS wireless cable. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JW@KSC who wrote (806)	1/4/1998 7:54:00 PM
From: Hiram Walker	Respond to of 2063

Jim, a great article just released today on CED magazine. Here is an excerpt from it. While this cautious approach might make sense for startups looking to generate returns as quickly as possible, it should not be taken as the final word on the potential of LMDS, said Rosalind Allen, deputy chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. "LMDS is not going to be just another fancy CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier)," she said. "LMDS can be all things to all people. It is going to provide people with the type of instant one-stop shopping (for telecommunications and media services) that other competitors working through resale agreements, partnerships and other means are attempting to offer." The only LMDS player so far voicing commitment to reaching the mass market with its services is the pioneer in the technology, CellularVision USA, now operating the only commercial LMDS system in the U.S. CVUS recently achieved a long-sought goal when the FCC turned its temporary waiver into a 10-year license covering a population base of 8.3 million people in the New York Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area. CVUS CEO Shant Hovnanian said the license strengthens the company's bargaining position as it negotiates with potential partners that it might venture with in bidding for additional territories, including the remainder of the New York Basic Trading Area not covered by the PMSA. He noted that the Commission's newly-announced policy setting a 45 percent bidding discount credit for companies averaging $15 million or less in revenues over the past three years is also a boon to CVUS' position. "Under the rules, we can have partners and still qualify for the credit as long as we're in voting control of the venture," Hovnanian said, noting that the rules only require that the small entity have a "substantial" rather than a majority equity stake in the enterprise. CVUS offers 49 channels of television services in parts of New York City as well as a high-speed data service using telco return in Manhattan. The new license permits delivas well as a high-speed data service using telco return in Manhattan. The new license permits delivery of two-way, over-the-air services, which the company has said it will launc The firm now has 12 transmitters in operation, and by year's end, intends to have 19, providing coverage to much of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx as well as to 40 percent of the offices and homes below 72nd Street in Manhattan, Hovnanian said. The company is installing repeaters in high-rise areas as demand warrants to provide broader coverage, he added. With the launch of 500 kilobit-per-second data service in Manhattan, using wireless downstream and telco return, the company hopes to demonstrate that this category of service can be a major force behind market acceptance of the technology. So far, response to the offering in the business community has been very strong, officials said, though they declined to break out data subscriber numbers from the total of 16,000 customers now reported to be taking CVUS' multichannel television services. CellularVision co-founder and technology guru Bernard Bossard disputed assertions by some LMDS entrants that foliage blockage would limit usefulness of wireless broadband technology in the residential markets. "We have developed techniques that allow us to extend into the suburban neighborhoods, so that's not a big issue," he said. CellularVision is preparing to implement a new, open technology licensing agreement with its technology affiliate CT&T which should allow broad access to CVUS solutions, such as repeaters and other means of extending into residential areas, Hovnanian noted. "Our patents and the patents we've applied for . . . are things people will need access to in order to operate LMDS economically," he said, naming Hewlett-Packard Co., Bosch Telecom Inc. and Stanford Telecom as some of the parties who appear interested in participating in an open licensing program. With WinStar, Teligent and a host of other holders of spectrum outside the LMDS segment pushing ahead after the small- to mid-size business market, there's little reason to view LMDS as just another means of getting to this customer base, noted a senior vendor executive, asking not to be named. "The spectrum will be made available, and people will use it wherever they see an opportunity to offer services in under-served markets, and that means residential as well as business," he said. The rest of the article is at cedmagazine.com Hiram

To: JW@KSC who wrote (806)	1/4/1998 8:24:00 PM
From: Bernard Levy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2063

To the thread: I do not know if the following link has been posted earlier: cedmagazine.com It contains an interesting discussion of the prospects for the LMDS auction, including WCII and TGNT current business strategies, and a quote from Shant Hovnanian sketching CVUS's approach to the auction. The approach is apparently for CVUS to form partnerships where they would have controlling vote (a controlling vote can be obtained with less than 51% of the shares if there are enough smaller partners). This setup would allow these partnerships to bid and benefit from the rebate given by the FCC to small businesses such as CVUS. It remains to see whether larger players will be willing to form partnerships with CVUS. During the last week I have started reviewing the technical literature on millimeter wave broadband networks. CVUS's system is really primitive compared to what is technically achievable. I expect that HP/stanford Telecom and Bosch Telecom will produce significantly better systems. Also, CVUS looks positively like a mom and pop operation compared to WCII and even TGNT. It is really time for Shant Hovnanian to bring in some communications or even cable TV professionals in CVUS's top management team. In other words, CVUS has a long way to go in order to truly deliver on the promise of LMDS technology.